1. Field of the Invention
This invention is a decorative molding for the junction between vertical walls and a horizontal ceiling including a decorative chair rail assembly for mounting on walls intermediate a floor and a ceiling.
2. Background
It is commonly desired to dress-up what may be called the junction or intersection between the walls and the ceiling of the room. A decorative molding applied along the intersection between each wall and the ceiling of a room covers any unfinished gaps or defects and provides an asthetically pleasing finished look to the room.
Although various materials have been employed in the construction of such moldings, perhaps the most commonly used trim is made from wood. Wood has the advantage of being relatively inexpensive and easy to fabricate with various curved decorative surfaces which face the interior of the room when the trim is installed at the intersection of walls and ceiling. An example would be quarter round which is supplied in long lengths cut with square butt ends. The quarter round is nailed in place along the wall-ceiling junction and the end of one piece is butted against the end of another piece along the junction around the room. Such joints are necessary both because the quarter round may not be long enough in some cases, or simply for economy to avoid waste of molding material.
It is necessary to make 45 degree angled cuts in the molding at inside or at outside corners in order to achieve the desired finished look. These cuts must be made at the job site and it is often difficult to match the ends both because of deficiencies in wall-ceiling construction and tolerances in the molding material itself not to mention the errors inherent in making angled cuts to fit exactly together.
Hollow shapes fabricated from metal or plastic are sometimes used for trim molding, but it is always necessary to make butt joints in trimming the intersection between walls and ceiling for the reasons mentioned. Even though extruded molding or molding fabricated from inexpensive sheet metal, for example, may be produced with uniform cross-section, it is still difficult to make neat butt joints from one piece to the other or to make neat angled joints at the corner itself. Non-flush edges of abutting trim members mounted at the junction are easily caused by a all too common variations in the surfaces of the walls and ceiling along the intersection and the fact that one trim member is lying along one portion of the wall and another trim member is lying along a different part of the wall. Over a considerable length, these variations often make it difficult to get a neat butt joint on trim which is actually fixed at different parts of the wall. Even a small difference in the position of the edges at a joint in a trim molding are objectionable because they are easily seen, especially if highlighted by sunlight or other lighting conditions in the room.
An additional problem is the difficulty in fixing the molding to the wall junction intersections without leaving the fastening devices or vestiges of the fastening devices visible under certain lighting conditions which is similarly objectionable. Painting, wallpapering, or other repairs, provide a particular problem because it is necessary to remove the trim molding in order to perform renovating, decorating, and maintenance tasks followed by replacement of the molding back in its original location. Frequently, the removal of trim is accompanied by cracking, splintering or other damage that necessitates the purchase and installation of new trim molding. Thus, it would be desirable to have an attractive decorative molding assembly with neat joints between pieces, with the edges in close registration with each other, which was conveniently installable without visible fasteners and which is removable and reinstallable.
Decorative and asthetically pleasing chair rail trim assemblies are also commonly used by mounting along each wall around the room at a chair contacting height intermediate the floor and ceiling. The chair rail serves as a "bumper" in case the chair is accidentially pushed against a wall to prevent any damage to the wall itself. In addition, it adds a pleasing finished look to the wall. The same advantages and problems exist with the chair rail molding assembly as with the ceiling-wall trim molding assembly. Neat butt joints with convenient installation and removal and replaceability are desired as with the ceiling molding assembly. It is to this end that the present invention has been developed with a view to providing an interior ceiling-wall or partition trim assembly and a chair rail assembly which utilizes several unique components to provide a trim assembly with neat joints that is easy to install, economical, removeable, replaceable, and attractive in appearance.